How long were you sad when...

Wynnie

... you lost a pet?

I hadn't had a pet in years and last year I adopted a spunky little grey kitten, but it turned out he had a genetic problem and only lived about 5 months. It's been over a year since I lost him, but when I went online to look at kitty pictures and just think about trying again, it brought back a rush of heartbreak and I couldn't do it. :brokenheart:

Sorry to bring anyone down - just needed to ask and MFP folks have always been great about other stuff. Tks.

Wynnie

... you lost a pet?

I hadn't had a pet in years and last year I adopted a spunky little grey kitten, but it turned out he had a genetic problem and only lived about 5 months. It's been over a year since I lost him, but when I went online to look at kitty pictures and just think about trying again, it brought back a rush of heartbreak and I couldn't do it. :brokenheart:

Sorry to bring anyone down - just needed to ask and MFP folks have always been great about other stuff. Tks.

Fitness_Chick

... you lost a pet?

I hadn't had a pet in years and last year I adopted a spunky little grey kitten, but it turned out he had a genetic problem and only lived about 5 months. It's been over a year since I lost him, but when I went online to look at kitty pictures and just think about trying again, it brought back a rush of heartbreak and I couldn't do it. :brokenheart:

Sorry to bring anyone down - just needed to ask and MFP folks have always been great about other stuff. Tks.

Boy this can be a tough one ...I think it will vary from person to person. I can recall each and every kitty I ever had since I was very young and I still feel it in my heart. Time can help heal the wounds of our losses in life but the scar will always remain, just as in any loss in life.

I think if it feels right, then you'll know it, you'll just know in your heart

So sorry to hear about your loss:flowerforyou:

FC

crosstitcher0563

I put my cat of 18 years down last year. OH how I bawled at the vet.:brokenheart: :sad: :sad: :sad: Poor vet! I have pictures of her and miss her, but towards the end she was having trouble. It was best to put her down.

I had another cat and a dog at the time and that eased the pain considerably. I still miss my Sophie kitty. :sad: , and the other cat that I had mourned for her too. We have adjusted after 6 months. It's amazing how another pet can keep your mind off the loss. My crazy dog takes all my attention and makes me laugh.

cmriverside

I too have lost many animals. There will always be a place in my heart for each of them, and I look forward to the day we are reunited.

But having worked in an animal shelter, I know how many wonderful animals really need a good home. I have as many as I can legally have. More than 30,000 HEALTHY animals were euthanized in my county alone in ONE year because people fail to have their animals neutered and spayed, and there just are not enough homes for them. Many many more are put down because they are injured or sick or have behavior problems making them unadoptable.

Please honor the memory of your little one by opening your home to another needy animal. It means life or death to them, and I think you will find it brings you great joy.

Pet stores only pepetuate the problem. Please help a shelter animal. There are many wonderful animals in shelters.

Thank you. :flowerforyou:

Lo153

I'm so sorry for your loss

Last year, I had to have my 18 and my 19 year old kitties put to sleep. The pain was unbearable. I have a new little calico kitty now, and whenever I take her to the vet, I get teary because it is the same vet where my other kitties had to be put to sleep. The pain doesn't go away, but as FC says, time does help ease that initial pain. I think the scar that's left is our reminder of just how deeply we really did love

Please... if you can find it in your heart, adopt a shelter pet. You will save a little life, and a little life just might help your mending heart feel a little less broken

Best of luck to you... and may you always cherish your memories of your kitty

mommared53

I'm so sorry about your loss. :brokenheart: After I lost my first cat I cried myself to sleep for weeks. :sad: I still get teary eyed thinking about my Blacky Cat. That was at least 10 years ago. I have two other cat's now, Andre' and Judy. If I ever lost them I don't think I could bear to get another pet.

Betty

MisoSoup79

I lost a kitten last April that I had rescued and nursed for 10 days. He was only 2 weeks old when he passed away in my arms. "Failure to thrive" is how the vet put it... You may think 10 days is not long enough to form a strong attachment, but I was nursing him every 3 hours and I had my whole life scheduled around the little guy. Though I've lost beloved pets before, his death was the single hardest thing I have ever been through thus far in my life and every time I look at his pictures, I find myself tearing and missing him.

I am so sorry for your loss. I don't think the sadness of missing our four-legged companions ever really goes away... But sharing your life with a new companion can help ease the pain. Some people who lose a pet swear they will never get another because the pain was too much to bear. But if everyone who lost a pet felt that way, then no pets would ever get rescued and have a chance at love and life... We outlive them because there are so many of them that need a chance, that need a home.

Losing a pet can be more difficult for some than losing a human companion. I think it's because of the unconditional love and the very personal nature of the human-animal bond.

Carl01

The last pet that we had was a cat that came here in 1979.
She died on April 12 1993.
Still have dreams that she is alive and roaming around the house,will always miss her.

cmriverside

Losing a pet can be more difficult for some than losing a human companion. I think it's because of the unconditional love and the very personal nature of the human-animal bond.

Excellent post. Too bad they can't tell us what they need. They are so helpless and child-like in that way and since they depend on us for everything, we really fel we have let them down when they die.

If you haven't read the "Rainbow Bridge," read this. For anyone who has lost an animal - and I just read it and cried.......you will likely cry reading this. Warning. But it is very comforting. :flowerforyou:

__________________________________________________________________________
The Rainbow Bridge

Just this side of heaven is a place called Rainbow Bridge.

When an animal dies that has been especially close to someone here, that pet goes to Rainbow Bridge. There are meadows and hills for all our special friends, so they can run and play together.

There is plenty of food, water and sunshine, and our friends are warm and comfortable.

All the animals who had been ill and old are restored to health and those who were hurt or maimed are made whole and strong again, just as we remember them in our dreams of days and times gone by. The animals are happy and content, except for one small thing; they each miss someone very special to them, who had to be left behind.

They all run and play together - but the day comes when one suddenly stops and looks into the distance. His bright eyes are intent. His eager body qulvers. Suddenly he begins to run from the group, flying over the green grass, his legs carrying him faster and faster.

You have been spotted, and when you and your special friend finally meet, you cling together in joyous reunion, never to be parted again. The happy kisses rain upon your face; your hands again caress the beloved head, and you look once more into the trusting eyes of your pet so long gone from your life but never absent from your heart.

Then you cross Rainbow Bridge together....

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Author unknown.

Another member, Marywilldiet, posted this last year around this time the day before she had to euthanize her beloved cat, "Guin".

Send her a message. "Guin" passed over the Rainbow Bridge on February 13, 2008